DTCC ponders legal action over swaps trade data rules

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is threatening to sue a US regulator over how rival CME Group is being allowed to handle derivatives trading data.

Last year, as a result of Dodd-Frank, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) outlined plans for new rules requiring all swaps trades to be reported to trade-data repositories.

Initially, traders were told that they could use repositories of their choosing. However, in the face of a lawsuit filed by CME Group, this was changed in November, enabling the exchange operator to send data on trades it has cleared to its own repository, rather than give customers a choice of venue.

The DTCC - which does not clear swaps - argues that this is unfair and, according to the Wall Street Journal, has now threatened its own legal action, with general counsel Larry Thompson telling a conference call that the organisation "is keeping all of [its] options open, including litigation".